Charles N. Allen, Ph.D.
- Professor Emeritus, Oregon Institute of Occupational Health Sciences
- Professor of Behavioral Neuroscience, School of Medicine
- Neuroscience Graduate Program, School of Medicine
- Behavioral Neuroscience Graduate Program, School of Medicine
Biography
A selective evolutionary advantage seems to be conferred on individuals whose physiological rhythms are synchronized to environmental conditions. Thus, the majority of organisms studied show twenty-four hour rhythms in physiological processes termed circadian rhythms. Disturbances in circadian rhythms are known to contribute to a variety of diseases and to impair mental and physical performance. The circadian system consists of three conceptual components, a timekeeping oscillator, input pathways providing environmental information, and output pathways sending timing information to peripheral clocks and organs. The timekeeping oscillator or clock resides, in mammals, in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) a bilateral structure located in the hypothalamus. This circadian clock is synchronized (entrained) to the environmental light-dark cycle via a direct axonal projection (retinohypothalamic tract, RHT) from a specialized subset of retinal ganglion cells. SCN neurons ouput timing information via projections to other hypothalamic nuclei and by releasing neurohumoral factors.
Education and training
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Degrees
- B.S., 1976, Texas Tech University
- Ph.D., 1981, University of Texas Health Sciences Center
Areas of interest
- Circadian Rhythms
- Sleep
- Synaptic Transmission
- Suprachiasmatic Nucleus
- Neural Network Activity
Additional information
Publications
Publications
GABAergic signalling in the suprachiasmatic nucleus is required for coherent circadian rhythmicity
European Journal of NeuroscienceThe amyloid precursor protein intracellular domain induces sleep disruptions and its nuclear localization fluctuates in circadian pacemaker neurons in Drosophila and mice
Neurobiology of DiseaseA melanopsin ganglion cell subtype forms a dorsal retinal mosaic projecting to the supraoptic nucleus
Nature communicationsExpression of the vesicular GABA transporter within neuromedin S+ neurons sustains behavioral circadian rhythms
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of AmericaSpontaneous allelic variant in deafness–blindness gene Ush1g resulting in an expanded phenotype
Genes, Brain and BehaviorLong-Term Imaging Reveals a Circadian Rhythm of Intracellular Chloride in Neurons of the Suprachiasmatic Nucleus
Journal of biological rhythmsDiurnal properties of tonic and synaptic GABAAreceptor-mediated currents in suprachiasmatic nucleus neurons
Journal of neurophysiologyCannabinoid signaling recruits astrocytes to modulate presynaptic function in the suprachiasmatic nucleus
eNeuroDistal convoluted tubule Cl-concentration is modulated via K+ channels and transporters
American Journal of Physiology - Renal PhysiologySuprachiasmatic VIP neurons are required for normal circadian rhythmicity and comprised of molecularly distinct subpopulations
Nature communicationsCircadian behavioral responses to light and optic chiasm-evoked glutamatergic EPSCs in the suprachiasmatic nucleus of ipRGC conditional vGlut2 knock-out mice
eNeuroRapid Response and Slow Recovery of the H3K4me3 Epigenomic Marker in the Liver after Light-mediated Phase Advances of the Circadian Clock
Journal of biological rhythmsGABA transporters regulate tonic and synaptic GABAA receptor-mediated currents in the suprachiasmatic nucleus neurons
Journal of neurophysiologyIntracellular Chloride Regulation in AVP+ and VIP+ Neurons of the Suprachiasmatic Nucleus
Scientific ReportsMembrane currents, gene expression, and circadian clocks
Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in BiologyMexneurin is a novel precursor of peptides in the central nervous system of rodents
FEBS LettersEnhanced functional connectivity involving the ventromedial hypothalamus following methamphetamine exposure
Frontiers in NeuroscienceLocalization and expression of GABA transporters in the suprachiasmatic nucleus
European Journal of NeuroscienceCauses and Consequences of Hyperexcitation in Central Clock Neurons
PLoS computational biologyGABAB receptor-mediated frequency-dependent and circadian changes in synaptic plasticity modulate retinal input to the suprachiasmatic nucleus
Journal of PhysiologyImpaired memory and reduced sensitivity to the circadian period lengthening effects of methamphetamine in mice selected for high methamphetamine consumption
Behavioural Brain ResearchSimultaneous electrophysiological recording and calcium imaging of suprachiasmatic nucleus neurons.
Journal of visualized experiments : JoVEEffects of neonatal methamphetamine and thioperamide exposure on spatial memory retention and circadian activity later in life
Behavioural Brain ResearchVasoactive intestinal polypeptide requires parallel changes in adenylate cyclase and phospholipase C to entrain circadian rhythms to a predictable phase
Journal of neurophysiologyMice with early retinal degeneration show differences in neuropeptide expression in the suprachiasmatic nucleus
Behavioral and Brain FunctionsNeuropeptide-mediated calcium signaling in the suprachiasmatic nucleus network
European Journal of NeuroscienceRetinohypothalamic tract synapses in the rat suprachiasmatic nucleus demonstrate short-term synaptic plasticity
Journal of neurophysiology